In order to harvest deer consistently you need to learn all you can about how a deer hears, smells, and sees. Then, you need to devise ways to try and negate those remarkable senses. Because they do not hear much better than you, the primary areas to focus on closing the gap are smell and vision.

A deer’s nose is roughly a thousand times better than yours and he can see about five times better than you (amazingly, they have peripheral vision between 250-270 degrees!).

Deer hunters spend a fortune on scent control products every year trying to close the largest gap – the deer’s sense of smell. Reality may be that you can’t completely defeat whitetail’s awesome nose, but you can stay in the game by playing the wind and practicing good scent control when you head to the field.

What can we do to close the gap between the deer’s vision and our own? The most common practices to defeat a deer’s vision are use of camouflage to blend into our surroundings, and tree stands to attempt to defeat their amazing peripheral vision and keen ability to detect movement.

All of these things are great. They help close the gaps by minimizing the deer’s advantages over the hunter. But, how can we maximize our own senses to close the gap even more? The best way is to maximize our own vision.

Excellent vision is critical to becoming a skilled hunter. Appropriate eyewear will protect the hunter’s eyes and can improve their ability to spot wildlife and make a great shot. It is important to take the time to choose proper eyewear before heading to the field. It can pay big dividends through the protection of a one’s eyesight and in the thrill of a successful hunt.

Whether at the range or in the field the importance of eye protection cannot be overstated. Most shooting activities take place in close proximity to the face. This leads to significant risk of eye injury from ricochets and flying objects (ejecting shells, etc.). Additionally, they protect the eyes in the field from branches, wind, sun, and dust.

For shooting and hunting applications, polycarbonate is the best lens material available. It is lighter, more durable, more impact-resistant, and more scratch-resistant than other materials on the market today. It also blocks UV rays that can be damaging to the eye.

It is important that your lenses adequately cover enough of the eye area to provide proper protection. Look for lenses that wrap around, past the sides of the eye for complete coverage. Complete Vision Care carries a large selection safety frames that are both stylish and provide the complete coverage needed for shooting and hunting applications.​Yellow or Amber tints improve contrast and depth perception and give a sensation of heightened visual acuity, especially during dawn and dusk - the times when wild game is most active. Additionally, they are effective at blocking the blue light commonly found in diffused light such as one might experience on a cloudy day.

The first step to maximizing and protecting your vision is to have a comprehensive eye examination by one of the optometrists at Complete Vision Care. The prescription generated from this examination will allow us to make customized hunting or shooting glasses just for you. Take the next step towards closing the gap between the deer and the hunter. Improve your chances of seeing and harvesting that trophy buck you have dreamed about all these years. Schedule your appointment today.